Rockwool (www.rockwool.co.uk), the world’s
leading manufacturer of non-combustible stone wool insulation, has
officially welcomed the creation of the Solid Wall Insulation
Guarantee Agency (SWIGA). The creation of this agency marks the
culmination of months of work building on the experience gained from
the established Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency scheme to enhance
protection for consumers.

SWIGA will provide a 25 year guarantee on all qualifying solid wall
insulation used in building refurbishments, such as Rockwool’s
RockShield products and its partnering system with British Gas,
EcoRock. These are often used in domestic refurbishment projects, to
insulate existing buildings where cavity wall insulation is not
suitable.

Under the terms of the Government’s proposed Community Energy Saving
Programme (CESP) and Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT),
energy suppliers will be obliged to provide energy efficiency
measures to domestic consumers. Solid wall insulation is expected to
be an important element in these measures. The launch of SWIGA will
be instrumental in reassuring the Government and consumers that the
solid wall insulation industry is already taking steps to ensure it
is well regulated and provides similar consumer guarantees to those
available from cavity wall insulation, thus enabling cavity and
solid wall insulation to be included as a core carbon cutting
requirement under CESP and CERT legislation.

David Adams, Market Development Director from Rockwool, said: “We
welcome the launch of SWIGA and its 25 year guarantee as an
important step forward for solid wall insulation. New buildings are
now designed to very high energy efficiency standards. If Britain is
serious about improving its energy efficiency and meeting its wider
CO2 emissions targets, retrofitting existing properties is going to
be crucial. Given this, we think solid wall insulation will play an
increasing part in the greening of the UK.”

Gerry Miller of SWIGA, said: “Rockwool has been closely involved in
the creation of SWIGA, providing us with technical assistance and
industry knowledge, as well as welcome advice and encouragement. We
look forward to working closely together in future to promote solid
wall insulation as a viable and highly effective means of insulating
Britain’s buildings.”

Mat Colmer from the Energy Saving Trust said: “While solid wall
insulation does involve an upfront cost, we calculate that external
wall insulation could save a household around £400 a year on its
energy bills, and internal wall insulation could save around £380.
We welcome the creation of SWIGA and its product guarantee as a way
of encouraging more people to invest in this highly beneficial
insulation.”